The First Fear Re-imagined
by computergeeks58
Summary: Imagine "The First Fear" reimagined or rearranged. What would be different about it? This is my remake of the original Clock Tower.
1. Introducing

**Ch. 1 Introducing…..**

For this fanfiction, I'm going to delete Lotte and replace her with an actual boy named Joshua who's nicknamed, Josh.

Joshua is best friends with Jennifer and also has a crush on her.

Jennifer feels the same way towards him as well.

And since they're such close friends, Joshua sometimes calls Jennifer "Jenny".

On the other hand, Jennifer sometimes calls Joshua "Josh".

I also got rid of that pesky, little parrot that says "I kill you! I kill you!" There's going to be a lot of things I'm going to delete or replace in this story. And the funny thing is that I'm going to have Jennifer "pocket" the items she finds just like she does in the game. Or basically speaking, this is my version of the "First Fear".


	2. Oh We're Off to See the Mansion!

**Ch. 2 Oh We're Off to See the Mansion! The Wonderful Mansion of Mary!**

 _Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except Joshua, a.k.a. Josh._

 **Raised in the Granite Orphanage, Jennifer and her friends were wanted as adopted children. It happened in September….**

It was a cool and windy afternoon in the middle of September when Jennifer and her friends were outside walking to their new home with their new, foster mother, Mrs. Mary. The birds chirped as they flew through the sky in the beautiful sunset. The wind whooshed through the air creating a pleasant, fall breeze as if the atmosphere was welcoming the teens to their new home. It was around 5 in the afternoon and everything was so peaceful.

Mrs. Mary had adopted 4 teenagers **(Jennifer, 14, Laura, 14, Anne, 15, Joshua, 15)** from the Granite orphanage. The gang needed to be at their new home before sunset. As they traveled, everyone walked at their own pace.

Jennifer was closest to Mrs. Mary, Anne and Joshua were a few feet apart but Laura was the furthest behind.

Mrs. Mary could somehow sense that Laura was furthest behind and called out to her even without looking. "Laura, hurry up! We want to be there before sunset!"

Laura had a hard time keeping up with everyone because she was tired. She was already panting and slowing down in her walk. "Can you guys wait up! It's really hot in this skirt!"

"What's the matter Laura? Is the skirt too long for you?" teased Anne turning back snickering at her.

"Stop it! I will tolerate any teasing here! Let's carry on!" Mrs. Mary immediately corrected Anne.

As soon after she said that, Jennifer had the itch to ask Mrs. Mary this question. While they walked, Jennifer looked up at her and asked, "Mrs. Mary?"

"Yes dear!" she replied so calmly looking down at Jennifer.

"From now on, what kind of place will we be living in?" Jennifer was so innocent.

"That's the fifth time you've asked! Don't worry. It's a very, nice place." Mrs. Mary then looked forward and pointed to the location. "There it is! See?"

Jennifer and the others looked where Mrs. Mary pointed. They saw that it was no ordinary house but a mansion. It was dream come true. They were about to go from a crowded orphanage to a marvelous mansion. This was beyond a child's wildest dream. Their new home was no typical house with a white, picket fence but a real-life mansion. Things couldn't get any better than this.

"Wow! It's a mansion! Can you believe it?" exclaimed Anne being the first to respond.

"It's beautiful! This is better than I expected!" said Jennifer just staring at the place.

"I'll say but I got a strange feeling about it." said Joshua.

Laura said nothing but stared at the place as well.


	3. Gotta Go Get my Man

**Ch. 3 Gotta Go Get my Man**

When everyone arrived inside the mansion, Laura made her first comment on the new place. "What a huge place!"

"Yeah! The main hall's gigantic!" exclaimed Anne.

The gang made their way through the main hall and made themselves comfortable.

Laura and Anne found two chairs to use in the main hall while the others stood up. There was an end table that stood between them as if it was a dinner for two.

Once everyone settled down, Mrs. Mary needed to leave to go get her husband. "I gotta go get Mr. Barrows. Everyone wait here." She then walked away into the corridor.

Nobody said anything until they felt sure she was gone. During that moment of silence, the teens looked around and checked out the mansion. For some reason, the mansion didn't seem to be as exciting as one had hoped.

Jennifer felt disappointed but said nothing about it. She had better manners than to trash talk someone else's home.

Then Anne spoke first, breaking the silence. "I bet this is going to be so fun living in a mansion compared to living in that orphanage!" exclaimed Anne already hooked on the mansion.

But Laura felt the opposite. "I don't feel too good about this mansion. It kind of gives me the creeps. It looks like those pictures are staring at us!" Laura looked around in fear.

"Tell me about it. I had the creeps by just looking at this place!" said Joshua agreeing with Laura.

Anne scuffed. "You guys are so paranoid! We just got here and you're already freaking out about it!"

Listening to the commotion, Jennifer wanted to be the peacemaker and calm everyone down. "Guys! Calm down! We need to just wait for Mrs. Mary to bring Mr. Barrows! She's coming right back!"

"Calm down? How can you calm down when this place is so creepy? This house makes me uneasy!" cried Laura looking at Jennifer with a sad face.

"Relax! You act like this place is haunted!" said Anne folding her arms with a smirk on her face.

"Maybe it is." added Joshua with a straight face.

"Josh!" exclaimed Jennifer giving him a mean look.

"Hey I'm just throwing it out there." he looked Jennifer in her eye with his arms halfway up as in surrender.

Aside from their minor dispute, the teens began to realize something.

"Hey does anybody know how long Mrs. Mary has been gone?" said Laura looking at everyone.

"Yeah what's taking her so long? Is Mr. Barrows in the woods or something?" Anne joked.

"Should I go find Mrs. Mary?" volunteered Joshua looking at Jennifer.

"No, I'll go look for her." confirmed Jennifer and then walked away. In the corridor, it was darker and scarier looking. She then remembered what Laura said about this place making her feel uneasy. Now Jennifer was feeling the same way. "Wow! This place really is scary." She looked around and called out for Mrs. Mary. "Umm…hello!...hello?...Mrs. Mary?...Mr. Barrows?...where are you?...everyone's waiting for you!" Jennifer then took her first, small steps. She took 10 steps and right before she was about to make the 11th step, Jennifer heard her friends scream back in the main hall. She gasped and quickly turned around. "Guys!" Immediately, Jennifer ran back to the main hall to check on everyone. But she couldn't believe her eyes. She was gone for 30 seconds and then everyone just mysteriously vanished. Also the lights were out. Quite impossible! "Guys?...Laura!...Anne!...Josh!...come on this isn't funny!" Jennifer waited for a response and got nothing. She instantly felt discouraged. "What happened to everybody? Everything was just fine! Now what?"


	4. The Main Hall's Gigantic

**Ch. 4 The Main Hall's Gigantic**

The first thing Jennifer needed to do was turn on the lights. She looked around for a switch and flipped it. She was so glad. "Oh thank God the light works again!" When the lights were on again, Jennifer looked at the stairs and decided to go travel them. Upstairs she got a closer look at the pictures. Another thing came to her mind about Laura said.

Laura mentioned that the pictures looked like they were staring at her.

Now Jennifer was beginning to take all that in. The pictures on the wall really did remind her of the infamous Mona Lisa painting. It really did look like the paintings were staring directly at Jennifer. Jennifer couldn't bear to watch the pictures any longer. So she turned and ran the other way. Not long after that, the floor caved in. That was totally unexpected. They had just arrived and already the place was getting worse by the minute. Jennifer looked down at the floor and saw how ridiculous it looked. "This place really is creepy!" Jennifer turned back around and ran down the stairs. Being downstairs again, Jennifer looked at the two chairs where Anne and Laura sat. 'Such memories' she thought to herself. She exited the room and entered the corridor. In the corridor was a window. It was pitch black and Jennifer didn't dare look outside. So quickly Jennifer ran to the next door. But by the time she was in front of the window, a gust of wind came whooshing through. It really gave her goosebumps. Jennifer hurried and went through the door.


	5. What is That

**Ch. 5 What…is That**

After passing by the creepy window, Jennifer saw three doors. She figured it would make most sense to go through the very, first one. She opened the door and went inside. The room looked ok. But there was one thing that caught her attention. She saw a very, strange and bizarre looking picture on the wall. "What….is that?" She stared at the picture but couldn't figure out exactly what it was. The picture was so creepy, Jennifer didn't even wanna get close to it. It seemed to give out a bad vibe. As a matter of fact Jennifer didn't even wanna sit on those 2 couches that were there neither. "I need to get out of this room quick!" So she hurried on to the next room.


	6. Mirror Mirror on the Wall

**Ch. 6 Mirror Mirror on the Wall**

The next room had 2 beds and a drawer with a mirror. She looked at the beds and saw only one with a blanket. "I wonder what's wrong with the other one." After leaving that other room, Jennifer felt like she could relax a little. Jennifer sat on the bed that was closest to her and had a look around. The room looked normal. Jennifer saw a lot of goodies on the drawer though. So she got up and had a look around. By there being a mirror, Jennifer couldn't resist looking at herself. But when Jennifer looked through the mirror, she didn't feel good about herself. It was almost as if the mirror had jinxed her. But Jennifer thought it was normal to feel that way. All girls have times where they don't feel good about themselves. Jennifer continued looking around on the drawer. "This is some really, nice stuff." She found Mrs. Mary's perfume and sprayed herself with it. It smelled really good but didn't last long. "I really like this perfume!" From there, Jennifer carried on.


	7. There's a Killer in the House

**Ch. 7 There's a Killer in the House**

Jennifer exited the bedroom and went on to the next room only to find out that it was a bathroom. 'Well since I'm here, might as well let it out.' she thought to herself. Jennifer left the bathroom and exited the corridor. Jennifer was now in the second part of the main hall. It looked about the same as the main hall. Just as she was about to make her first move, Jennifer heard something from the ceiling. She looked up and couldn't believe what she saw.

It seemed to be someone with a giant pair of scissors or garden shears crashing down from the ceiling. It was quite a sight.

Jennifer gasped with shock. She had never expected such a thing to happen. First the house, now a serial killer! "No!...it can't be!"

The killer fell through the glass ceiling and landed on the floor. The killer looked at Jennifer and snapped his scissors.

Jennifer couldn't believe it. It was a short killer with a giant pair of scissors. "No!...where's Mrs. Mary?...what's going on?...somebody help!" Tears began to run down her eyes.

But the killer wasn't fazed by Jennifer's cries. He snapped his scissors once again and started walking towards her.

"Noooooo!" Jennifer then ran back to the corridor and into the bedroom. She hid under one of the beds.

Scissorman snapped his scissors with every step of the way. When he couldn't find the poor girl, he gave up and walked away.

When Jennifer was convinced that scissorman was gone, she crawled up from under the bed. Her heart pounded, her hands shook with intense fear, her palms sweated and she hyperventilated. Jennifer had never expected such a wonderful day to turn into a horrible nightmare. She was on her way to having a panic attack. "I can't believe it!...I can't believe it!...I can't believe…..there's a killer in the house!" Jennifer was totally out of breath.


	8. Gag Reflexes

**Ch. 8 Gag Reflexes**

Jennifer had just experienced a minor panic attack after her very, first encounter with a serial killer. She was in the second part of the main hall again and it took her a while to fully calm down after that terrifying experience. But now that Jennifer is aware that there's a killer in the house, she couldn't really calm down. So Jennifer decided to sit on the floor for a good while and just pray internally in her heart. After about 10 minutes of intensive meditation, Jennifer got back up and running again. So now, by her being in the second part of the main hall, she wanted to stay downstairs. Jennifer ran across the room and saw 2 doors. She tried the one to the right and it was locked. So she went through the other door and into another corridor. This time, there was only 1 door and another at the very end of the corridor. Jennifer went into the first door to find out that it was a kitchen. But there was one problem…..it was dark. Again Jennifer looked around for a switch and flipped it. Only this time, the lights would flicker about every 15 seconds. But she couldn't complain, at least the lights did work. Jennifer had a quick look around. It wasn't too bad. By her seeing the fridge, how could she resist not looking inside? Jennifer ran to it, opened it and to her surprise, it looked nice inside. Everything looked really good and fresh. There was a juicy ham inside that looked rather tasty. "Wow!...maybe I'll eat this later!" Jennifer pocketed the ham and then went for the freezer. When she opened it, she saw a bunch of meat. Something instantly caught her attention. It was a shiny key. Just before Jennifer could grab it, she saw something else. It turned out to be a swarm of flies. Immediately, Jennifer felt sick to her stomach and had a gag reflex. She felt like she was going to throw up. She coughed and closed the door. Jennifer was so grossed out that she fell to the ground coughing. "That was so gross!" She did her best to compose herself and ran out the kitchen.


	9. Auto Mechanic

**Ch. 9 Auto Mechanic**

Jennifer inhaled deeply to recover from the swarm of flies. She hurried down to the end of the corridor and entered in. It seemed to be a garage. The first thing that caught Jennifer's attention was the automobile. She wondered if it worked. She ran over to it and had a good look at it. Jennifer looked around for any possible keys laying around and fortunately found one. "No way!" But as soon as Jennifer opened the car door, she stopped and said to herself, "I can get out of here with this car but…the others." So for some reason Jennifer felt like it was wrong to abandon her friends and it was. She ended up leaving the keys on the car seat and closed the door. Jennifer looked at the ledge, walked over to it and climbed up the ladder. But there was nothing but a couple stacks of hay up there. Sadly she climbed back down and left the garage.


	10. DDT

**Ch. 10 DDT**

Jennifer ran all the way back to the second part of the main hall and up the stairs. She tried the door on the right and it didn't open. So she had to go through the other. It was yet another corridor but there were no doors to go through. Instead there was a simple opening. She went through it and discovered what looked like a bedroom but without a bed. Once again, Jennifer looked around for clues. On the ground, she found a can, picked it up and turned it to see the label. It said "DDT". It was bug spray. "Perfect! Now I can get rid of those pesky flies!" Jennifer had to run all the way back down the stairs and back into the kitchen. Before opening the freezer, she covered her nose with her hand, opened the door and then sprayed every fly she could find. When the bugs died off, Jennifer grabbed and pocketed the key and closed it back up. Since she had just sprayed the DDT, she didn't wanna inhale just yet. Jennifer needed to leave the kitchen to avoid the toxic fumes. Jennifer dropped the DDT on the floor and hurried out. Outside she released her hand from her nose and breathed freely. "Finally!" Now she had to figure out which door that key opened. Hopefully it won't be a door too far away.


	11. Wine and Die

**Ch. 11 Wine and Die**

So Jennifer had found a gold key not knowing where it could possibly go. "Where should I go?" She walked out of the corridor and back to the second part of the main hall. As soon as she was on the other side, Jennifer instantly remembered that there was a locked door that didn't open earlier. Now just because that was the first, locked door she found didn't mean that the gold key went to it. But why not give it a try? After all, it was trial and error. So Jennifer tried the key and to her surprise it actually worked. Jennifer walked inside the room and finally found Mrs. Mary. What was she doing? "Mrs. Mary?"

"Glad to see you safe Jennifer." Mrs. Mary was so calm.

"Mrs. Mary!...where have you been?...everyone was looking for you…..where's my friends?...and there's a killer in the house! I was so scared!"

"Now now dear, calm down. Everything's going to be just fine." Mrs. Mary turned around and opened the cabinet. She grabbed a bottle of red wine, a wine glass and poured the contents into the glass. After putting the wine bottle back in the cabinet, Mrs. Mary turned back to Jennifer and offered it to her. "Here. Drink this….it'll calm you down."

Jennifer looked at Mrs. Mary and then at the drink. She felt a little confused at first but then went ahead and took the drink. 'Maybe Mrs. Mary is trustworthy.' she thought to herself. Jennifer took a sip and it tasted strange. "Um Mrs. Mary…..this drink tastes funny."

"Nonsense! Go ahead!...drink up!" Mrs. Mary encouraged with a straight face.

Jennifer continued to consume the wine regards of how she felt. Afterwards she started feeling dizzy. 'Maybe it's just me.' she thought to herself. When she was done, she passed out on the floor and fell unconscious dropping the wine glass.

Mrs. Mary couldn't have been happier. She really could care less about Jennifer and her friends. "Such a stupid girl! She should have known better than to trust me!"


	12. Who are You

**Ch. 12 Who are You**

Jennifer was in a deep sleep until she felt someone touching her. She twitched a little but was still mostly asleep.

The person kept touching her but in a more sexual way. The person felt her shoulder down to her thighs.

As Jennifer kept feeling someone touching her, she twitched even harder. "Who's…..who's touching me?"

The person laughed. "Such a pretty girl. Pretty enough to eat."

When she heard the person say that, Jennifer immediately shook herself awake. When she opened her eyes, she looked around and found herself in a cage. "Huh?...where am I?...how'd I get here?"

The strange man then felt through her hair.

Jennifer snapped her head back and saw who was touching her.

It was a man who looked worn down and starved to death. He looked severely anorexic and his ribs were visible. He was very boney and his hair was messy from long-term abandonment. This man was clearly dying from starvation.

When Jennifer first saw him, she screamed and scooted back. "Who?...who?...who are you?"

The man looked at Jennifer with such a sad face. "Please…..I'm hungry….I'm so hungry….I need…..fffooood!"

Hearing the desperation in the man's voice scared Jennifer half to death. She had nowhere to go. There was nobody there to help her nor did anyone knew she was there. Jennifer then got up and ran to the cage door. Jennifer tried jerking the cage door back and forth in a hope to open it but it wouldn't budge. "No!...help!...somebody get me out!...is anybody out there?" The feeling of hopelessness began to manifest inside her. Was this "the end"? Would she die from a cannibal? Was Jennifer going to be eaten alive? Tears flooded her eyes.

Watching Jennifer at the cage door, the starved man crawled over to her and grabbed her ankle.

When Jennifer felt herself get grabbed by that man, it was like her worst nightmare come true. She looked down, saw the man and yelled, "No!...let go of me!...let go of me!" She then tripped and fell but continued fighting.

The man then tried to climb on top of her. "I'm so hungry!...I need fooood!"

But Jennifer wasn't about to be another human being's dinner. She had to fight for her own survival. "No!...get off me!...get off me!" She kicked and screamed. She kicked the man off her even though he was starving to death. Jennifer managed to get back on her feet again but this time she remembered something. She remembered that ham she picked up from the fridge. Jennifer was going to save it for herself later but now that she had encountered this man, she had no choice but to give it up. So Jennifer reached into her pocket and pulled out the ham. "Here! I have some ham for you!"

"Please!...anything!...anything!" he begged eyeballing the ham with such desperation.

"Here take it!" Jennifer tossed the ham on the ground.

The starved man immediately grabbed the ham and devoured it.

When he seemed satisfied, Jennifer decided to question the poor man. "So…..who are you exactly?"

"I am Simon B…Barrows." he replied.

"Simon Barrows? You mean Mr. Barrows?" Jennifer was stunned. 'This is supposed to be Mrs. Mary's husband? But why? Why would she do such a thing?' she thought to herself. "Oh!...I feel so bad for you!" Jennifer just stood there and watched the man continue to eat the ham.

Simon was so hungry he ended up consuming the entire thing.

Once he was done, Jennifer turned around and looked at the shed door wishing someone would just come through and rescue her. But nobody knew she was there…..not even her friends. Maybe her friends were all killed. But for some reason, Jennifer had a feeling they were still alive somewhere. She sighed, grabbed the bars and rested her head against the bars of the cage.

Simon then laughed.

Jennifer heard him and turned around. "Huh?"

"Right now…..it's watching you." he said in a creepy voice.

"What?" Jennifer frowned. She felt so confused.

"The cradle…..under the star." Simon said.

"The cradle…..under the star? What are you talking about?" she asked thinking that he was a complete lunatic.

Simon laughed again and no longer looked at Jennifer.

At this point, Jennifer thought Simon had just lost his mind from starvation and was just talking nonsense. 'Wow!...this man really is crazy! I wonder why he was thrown in here in the first place.' she said in her mind. Jennifer leaned against the bars and sunk down to the ground. There was absolutely no hope left.

"Jenny!" yelled a voice.


	13. Attempted Murder

**Ch. 13 Attempted Murder**

Jennifer lifted up her head and turned around. She gasped for joy. "Josh!" She sprung up and was relieved at the sight of him. "I'm so happy to see you!"

Joshua ran to the cage door and hurried to unlock it. He was so anxious to see Jennifer that he didn't even notice Mr. Barrows. "Half a sec…..there we go! Now come on! Let's get out of here before Mrs. Mary comes!"

Jennifer wasted no time getting out of there. She then hugged Joshua as hard as she could. She couldn't hold back her tears. She had never been so happy to see Joshua in her life. "Oh Joshua! I'm so glad you're still alive!"

"I'm glad you're still alive too Jenny! Come on!...let's hurry!" he urged her.

"Oh!...right!" she agreed. Jennifer slightly forgot where she was because Joshua was in her presence.

"Now isn't that a pity!...Jennifer don't you move a muscle!... I will punish you!" yelled an angry voice who didn't seem to notice Joshua.

"Huh? Is that Mrs. Mary?" asked Jennifer looking at Joshua.

"It sure is!" he replied looking out the door.

Jennifer then saw something strange. She gasped and said. "Is she….is she holding…..a gun?"

"Whoa! A gun? We've got to do something quick!" exclaimed Joshua looking around.

"But what?" Jennifer was getting scared as she saw Mrs. Mary coming closer to the shed.

"Wait! I see something! Wait here!" Joshua ran away.

"What? What are you doing?" Jennifer didn't know what he was doing.

"Just trust me!" Joshua assured her.

Mrs. Mary then made her way inside the shed. "Jennifer! You've been a terrible daughter! I will punish you once and for all. Maybe then you'll be a nice, quiet child." She cocked the gun and right before she could shoot, she was interrupted.

"Not on my watch you crazy woman!" yelled Joshua from behind and then came running.

"What?" But before Mrs. Mary could turn around, she was struck in the head by a plank and then fell.

"Let's go!" he directed.

Both ran together outside.

Joshua looked Jennifer in the eye to deliver some bad news. "Jenny."

"Yes." Jennifer was so happy to hear the sound of his voice.

"Listen….scissorman's lurking around this mansion somewhere and if we're together, he'll kill us both." he began.

"So what are you saying?" she asked having a feeling what he was about to say.

"I'm saying…we'll have a better chance of surviving if we split up." he said firmly.

Jennifer gasped. "No Josh!"

"Yes Jenny! We have to!" he affirmed.

"Oh! I don't wanna lose you!" she said with a sad voice.

"You're not going to lose me Jenny! It'll be alright!…I promise!" said Joshua trying to give her hope.

But Jennifer didn't seem to accept it. She really liked Joshua and wanted him to be by her side especially with scissorman and Mrs. Mary lurking around. Tears came running down her cheeks once again.

"No, no Jenny! Don't cry! Everything's going to be ok! Be strong. I know you're a strong girl." Joshua assured her.

Jennifer nodded and agreed. "Yeah…you're right."

But Joshua decided to do something else to keep her hopes high. He caressed her face and kissed her on the cheek.

Jennifer's heart raced. 'OMG! Josh actually kissed me! And I didn't even ask for it!' she screamed in her head.

"We're going to be fine Jenny!" he reassured once again.

She giggled. "Yeah!...we'll be fine!"

Both then went back inside the mansion.


	14. Knight in Shining Armor

**Ch. 14 Knight in Shining Armor**

After Jennifer and Josh split up, Jennifer had to continue her journey of finding her other friends and somehow getting rid of scissorman and Mrs. Mary. She decided to go back into the room where she found Mrs. Mary because she didn't get a chance to look around. Jennifer felt as if she needed to find something in there. Back inside the room she saw a wine glass on the table and then it hit her. She realized that Mrs. Mary had drugged and put her in that cage. It was planned! "So that's what happened!" Jennifer got closer to it to examine the wine glass, but then saw something else. She found another key and pocketed it. "Aha!" After getting the key, she thought she saw something move. "Huh?" Jennifer looked around the room and then she saw it again causing her to gasp. "Did that suit of armor…just move? I hope I'm not going crazy!"

"Jennifer?...Is that you?" said a familiar voice.

Jennifer recognized the voice and looked at the suit of armor again. "Laura?" She rushed over to the suit of armor and opened the face of the helmet. "Laura!"

"Jennifer!" Laura wrapped her metallic arms around her. "I'm so glad to see you! I was so scared and it's suffocating in this suit! I don't know what happened!...have you seen the others?"

"I've seen Josh. He just saved me from a shed in the backyard from Mrs. Mary. And Mrs. Mary had a shot gun in her hand trying to kill us! I couldn't believe it!" explained Jennifer.

"A shot gun? No way! I thought Mrs. Mary was a little creepy at first but I didn't think she would go that far! Something's definitely wrong!" exclaimed Laura.

"And to top things off….I found Mr. Barrows." finished Jennifer.

"You did? How's he?" Laura asked looking eager to know.

Jennifer looked down and sighed. "You don't wanna know."

"But I do! Tell me Jennifer!" she grabbed Jennifer's shoulders.

"He was….locked in a cage, in that shed…and he was starved to death!" said Jennifer sadly.

Laura couldn't believe her ears. She let of Jennifer's shoulders and paused for a minute. She then said, "He was…..locked in a cage starving to death? That's so inhumane! Who would do such a thing? I can't believe Mrs. Mary!"

"Me neither but we're going to get to the bottom of this and find out what's really going on in this so-called mansion!" Jennifer folded her arms with a serious look on her face.

The two girls stood there in silence for a brief moment until Laura remembered something. "Have you seen him?"

"Yeah! I was terrified!" Jennifer replied already knowing what she was talking about.

"You? I thought I was going to have a heart attack!" cried Laura grabbing her chest.

"So have I! I saw him fall through the ceiling!" exclaimed Jennifer remembering that scene like it just happened.

"He came through the ceiling? That's crazy! I don't know what's going on at this mansion!" said Laura looking around feeling creeped out. She then looked at Jennifer. "Jennifer?"

"Yea." Jennifer replied.

"Can I come with you? I don't want anything to happen." cried Laura with a sad look.

Jennifer looked down, sighed and finally back at her. "Laura…no."

"What! But Jennifer I'm really sca…" she began to whine.

"Listen!...I know you don't wanna split up…..but if we wanna have a better chance of survival…..we're going to have to." Jennifer looked her right in the eye almost sounding like Joshua.

Laura saw the sincerity in her eyes and sighed. "Ok….but….will you be ok? I don't wanna find you dead next time we meet!"

"No Laura! Don't worry! We'll figure out scissorman and Mrs. Mary and get to the bottom of this!" exclaimed Jennifer with a smile.

Laura smiled back and gave her friend a hug. But when Laura hugged Jennifer, the face of the helmet fell down. "Whoa! I almost forgot I was wearing this suit of armor!"

Both girls laughed together even through that awkward moment. It was like a BFF moment.

"But first we need to get you out of this outfit!" exclaimed Jennifer looking at the suit.


	15. Satanism?

**Ch. 15 Satanism?**

When Jennifer got her friend out of the suit of armor, Jennifer and Laura had to depart ways. Back in the second part of the main hall, Jennifer looked around the place. Jennifer remembered that key she just found in the suit of armor room. She also remembered that other room upstairs that was locked. Before making another long trip upstairs, Jennifer needed to get down and recover. She sat down to regain her energy once again. Afterwards she got back up and rushed upstairs to try that new key. And once again….it worked. In this room, it was kind of strange. It was a miniature library but with a mural on the wall. Jennifer studied it for a while and then figured out what it detailed. It seemed to depict a ceremony. But not just any ceremony. It was a demonic ceremony. Did it represent Satanism? "Is that…Satanism? But who?...who would…..Mrs. Mary! She's the Satanist! Maybe that's why she had her husband in that cage because she was sacrificing him! But what about scissorman? Who's he? Is he a demon? No wonder this place is so evil! Maybe Mrs. Mary casted a spell on it! Don't worry Mrs. Mary! We're going to figure you and scissorman out!" Jennifer looked at the desk and saw a couple of books and a candle. She also found a note. It read;

 _Time will cause adherence….._

 _The clock tower's clock stopped._

'What does this mean? And what clock tower?' she said in her head. She laid down the note and observed some bottles. It was a variety of different chemicals laying around. Looking at those chemicals reminded Jennifer of witches and witchcraft because they used stuff like that to cast spells. So it was true.

Mrs. Mary was a satanic, witch after all. Mrs. Mary was a devout Satanist and maybe scissorman was one of her minions. Mrs. Mary had to be stopped at all costs…maybe even to the point of death. Her and her minion, scissorman.

After investigating everything in the room, Jennifer eventually left the room.


	16. Cornered

**Ch. 16 Cornered**

Witnessing the mural on the wall gave Jennifer the itch to wanna learn more about Mrs. Mary and scissorman. As a matter of fact, Jennifer even tried to remember when she first saw scissorman and how he looked. She remembered that he didn't look exactly human but sort of monstrous.

Mrs. Mary had become interesting to Jennifer all of a sudden. What other juicy details were she hiding?

Jennifer couldn't wait to uncover them. But now that she's explored the entire east wing of the mansion, it was time to crossover. She was upstairs when she crossed over. On the west wing, Jennifer had another set of rooms to explore. This was going to be drudging work. She had just spent a long time on the other side, now she had to start over. As Jennifer looked around, she asked herself, "Where do I even start?" She decided to run to the right. While running, she heard a scream. "Huh?" It was coming from a door close to her. 'Lucky I'm here.' she thought to herself. Jennifer immediately opened the door and found Anne but she was being cornered by scissorman. She was up against the window about to be thrown out.

As soon as Anne saw Jennifer, she yelled for her. "Jennifer!"

"Anne!" Jennifer's heart raced with panic.

Scissorman turned around to see who Anne was calling. He looked at Jennifer and then back at Anne as if he was trying to decide who to kill first.

"Hey scissorman!" yelled Jennifer as if to taunt him.

He turned back to her and snapped his scissorman, luring his attention away from Anne. 'You asked for it! Now you're going to get it!' he had that look on his face. Scissorman then came after Jennifer once again. Without further thought, Jennifer ran out the door and to the end of the hall. She winded up in a room full of mannequins.


	17. Mannequin Challenge

**Ch. 17 Mannequin Challenge**

The room freaked her out but there was no time for that when there was a serial killer on the loose. Jennifer quickly ran and hid behind one of the mannequins.

Scissorman made his abrupt entrance slashing his scissors. He was dying to catch Jennifer. He walked all the way across the room but unfortunately couldn't find her again. He was too stupid to look behind the mannequins. So Scissorman kicked the door open and exited the room.

When he was gone, Jennifer rose from the ground and began to walk out. But then she heard a squeaking noise. "What was that?" She looked around and couldn't believe her eyes. She gasped with fear. "No!...it can't be!"

There was a mannequin on the far end moving side to side as if it was a real person….but it wasn't.

Jennifer heart's rate exceeded from the norm and she started to hyperventilate. Her hands shook with terror. Things seemed to get worse every minute she was there. "This house truly is possessed! We need to get rid of Mrs. Mary, scissorman and whatever curse Mrs. Mary put on this mansion!" Jennifer then tried to bulldoze her way through the other mannequins but fell on one causing its head to fall off. She screamed with horror. Jennifer knew the mannequin wasn't alive but by its head slipping off, it felt like the room was coming to life in a demonic way. After that Jennifer pushed whatever mannequins were in her way and ran out into the hallway regardless of what just happened or what could happend. Never again did she wanna encounter that room.


	18. Frenemies

**Ch. 18 Frenemies**

Jennifer had to catch her breath after dealing with those mannequins.

Mrs. Mary was an absolute psychopath. And not just a psychopath but a satanic one. And because of all that, was Mrs. Mary possessed herself? Of course she was! How else would she be able to cast a spell if Satan himself wasn't inside of her?

Jennifer grabbed her chest and squat down on the ground against the door. She took a couple, deep breaths until she felt like she had recovered enough. Jennifer used her remaining energy to pull herself up. But first, she needed to go back and check on Anne. Surely she was ok, right? Jennifer found that room and spotted Anne again.

Anne was still standing by the window.

"Anne?" said Jennifer realizing that she didn't move.

"Jennifer…..I'd thought you'd be back." Her arms were folded.

"Huh?" Jennifer felt confused about Anne's reaction. 'Shouldn't she be glad I just saved her?' she said to herself. "Anne what are you talking about?"

"I've seen how you got all smoochy with Joshy." Anne made a mean face.

Jennifer immediately got offended by Anne's mockery of Joshua. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Don't call him Joshy! His name is Joshua or call him Josh!"

"Oh did I offend your 'boyfriend'!" teased Anne making the quote unquote gesture.

"Boyfriend? He's not my boyfriend!" said Jennifer although she would love for him to be her boyfriend.

"Oh really? I saw him kiss you out there in the backyard as I looked out the window earlier." said Anne.

"You were watching us?" asked Jennifer in disbelief.

"Oh course!...Joshua never wanted to kiss me though. I guess I'm not pretty enough!" said Anne.

'You are pretty enough. Probably prettier than me. But you're a jerk and that makes you ugly. At least I try to be a good friend.' Jennifer said in her head. She wanted to tell her that so bad but held it in. She shook her head. "I can't believe you Anne! Don't you know what's going on in this place? Don't you care about the others? This mansion, Mrs. Mary and scissorman are all possessed! Mrs. Mary casted a spell on this mansion and we've got to figure out how to remove the curse before it's too late! I just saved your life from scissorman and you didn't even have the guts thank me! But you had the guts to rant about a random kiss? I knew you were selfish Anne but I didn't think you'd be this selfish!" Jennifer then sat on the couch and looked at the fireplace.

Anne was astonished. She couldn't believe Jennifer had stood up to her like that. As much as Anne was offended, she didn't have anything to defend against. She thought about what Jennifer said and came to her senses.

Jennifer was right. It was a big slap in the face, but Anne deserved it since she was so ungrateful for what Jennifer had just done for her. Jennifer let scissorman chase after her a second time _(despite her being terrified)_ in order to let Anne escape before she was to be thrown out the window. That's something only a real friend would do. So apparently, Jennifer had proven herself as a very, good friend.

Anne was being ridiculous. She was thinking only about herself and not realizing how much danger their lives were all in. And as much as Anne hated to admit it, Jennifer was right about her. Anne sighed and looked at Jennifer watching the fireplace. She had been a bad friend…or more like a frenemy. "Um….Jennifer?"

Jennifer turned her head towards Anne.

"Um…..I'm sorry." confessed Anne looking sad.

Without saying anything, Jennifer looked at her for a brief moment and then turned back to the fireplace.

"Listen Jennifer…. I'm really sorry about my attitude and….." Anne began.

Jennifer sighed to ignore her.

When Anne realized that Jennifer wasn't listening, she decided to walk over to her. She bent down to look at her directly. "Jennifer?"

Jennifer looked at Anne again but this time had tears in her eyes.

Despite their relationship, Anne didn't realize the pain Jennifer was feeling deep down inside. She even felt sorry for her…but not too sorry. Anne was still Anne. However she did respond to Jennifer's pain. "Jennifer I'm so sorry. I was just jealous because I've always liked Joshua too and he never seemed to like me. I guess I was being too selfish." She then gave Jennifer a hug.

Through her pain, Jennifer gathered the guts to hug Anne back. In tears she responded with, "It's ok…..we're going to get through this. But we need to get to the bottom of this mansion and find out what's really going on behind the scenes."

Both sat there hugging each other and stared at the roaring flame. It was around 8:30 that night. Jennifer and Anne may not always get along but deep down, they still cared for each other.


	19. All Eyes on Me

**Ch. 19 All Eyes on Me**

The girls had a really touching moment that evening in front of the fireplace. Jennifer and Anne sort of bonded as they embraced each other. The girls kind of started to like each other as if they were breaking a love/hate barrier between them.

"Are you going to be ok?" asked Anne as she let go of Jennifer and rose to her feet.

Jennifer nodded her head and said, "Yeah."

"So what do we do now?" said Anne folding her arms.

Jennifer turned to Anne and said, "We split up."

Anne had mixed feelings about splitting up because she still had sort of a love/hate relationship with Jennifer. "Alright…..be careful."

Jennifer smiled at her and said, "You too."

Anne then walked away, opened the door and closed it behind her.

When Anne was gone, Jennifer thought about her fight with Anne. Have they gotten any closer? Have they broken that love/hate barrier between them? Have they become better friends? Jennifer almost got suckered into the moment until she snapped back into reality. "Oh man! I've got to keep exploring this place!" She rose from the couch and went through the door by the fireplace.

The room looked like a little girl's room that's been trashed from neglect. The light switch didn't work. There was a menace-looking, French doll that hung upside down from the ceiling by a chain. Some toys were broken on the floor. The bed was ruined and there was a clown sitting on a small toy box.

"I wonder whose room this used to be." For some reason, Jennifer felt like she was being watched. It was almost as if that little girl was watching Jennifer in her room giving Jennifer a bad vibe to get out before something bad happens. "Why do I feel like I'm being watched?"

Or maybe it was Mrs. Mary. The mansion was already under Mrs. Mary's influence so it had to be her. But what was a little girl's room doing in the mansion? Did Mrs. Mary have an actual daughter that was killed and now she's out to kill every child in town? Could that be the mystery of this mansion?

This was interesting to Jennifer. In each room, she found clues about Mrs. Mary, scissorman or the mansion itself. But what bugged Jennifer the most was that she wanted to know Mrs. Mary's true intention behind her murders. Was she doing it because she really and truly was an evil woman or was it out of revenge for a long, lost daughter? The place just kept getting better and better!

As Jennifer carefully examined the room, she looked at the doll first since it was literally in her face. As she examined the doll, something about it gave her the impression that said, 'get out or else…..'. Upon further investigation, Jennifer came across a dark key that appeared to open a door to a ceremonial room. She found it under the clown. "I wonder if this opens a ceremonial room." But as soon as she pocketed the key, Jennifer heard circus music. "Huh?" Jennifer listened and the music seemed to come from the clown itself. She looked at it and what do you know?

The clown laughed, got up and began walking towards her. And to make things worse, the doll somehow fell off the chain unto the floor and then began to slowly float towards her.

It didn't freak her out too much because she already knew the place was crazy. "You're not going to scare me this time Mrs. Mary!" Jennifer hurried to the door to open it but it wouldn't open. "What? What's going on?" She pulled and tugged on it and even tried to push on the door but it wouldn't budge. "Open the door!... Heeeeelp!... Hello!... Is somebody out there?"

It was no use. The door wouldn't move.

Jennifer then looked around for a weapon to hit them with but unfortunately, there were none. So what was poor Jennifer to do? Use her fists? She was cornered just like Anne was earlier. Jennifer ran for the other door and that was locked too. Now what? Jennifer had to figure out something otherwise she would be killed…by toys! Silly wasn't it? Jennifer had nowhere to go in that room. She was literally trapped in a box.

The toys ganged up on Jennifer. The clown was by her feet and the doll was in her face looking scary as ever.

This time, she really did begin to panic. The doors were locked and there was no one to get her out this time. It was a dead end for Jennifer Simpson. She banged on the door yelling, "Heeeeeeeeeelp!" When she felt something touch her feet, Jennifer quickly looked down and screamed, "Nooooooo!" But then something came to her mind. "Wait a minute? What am I so afraid? They're just toys!" She decided to kick the clown and the clown went flying in the air hitting the wall but it didn't break or die.

While the clown got up to compose itself, the French doll was about a foot away from Jennifer.

"I don't think so French girl!" said Jennifer with a frown on her face. So she built the courage to use her bare fists and hammer the doll down to the ground.

At this point, the clown was walking towards Jennifer again with its same laugh and circus music. Both toys were on the ground.

Jennifer had no choice but to ground stomp them. And she did just that to the toys. When she stomped the clown, its music got distorted and eventually stopped when it died. From there, Jennifer turned towards the door, ran to it and tried the knob once again.

This time, the door was open. Who could have locked it?

But anyway, Jennifer was glad to get out of there.


	20. Caged Animal

**Ch. 20 Caged Animal**

Roaming through the mansion, Jennifer stumbled upon a dark, cage room. As soon as entered the room, she was hit by the horrible scent of rotting corpses. "Oh gross!" The scent was so bad that Jennifer felt as though she needed to hurl. Jennifer cupped her face with her hands and coughed. She felt like she couldn't breathe. It was worse than the flies in the fridge. She fell to the ground coughing to the point where her face turned red. There was no mask for her to put on neither. Jennifer had to inhale that horrible scent until she went nose blind to it, which took some time. When Jennifer finally caught her breath and composed herself, she rose up. Jennifer felt around for the light switch and flipped it.

As soon as the lights came on, the sound of rats and wings were heard. The noise came from the cage on the floor.

Jennifer had gotten so creeped out that she became immune to the creepiness. What first caught her attention were the headless, hanging crows on the wall. "So that's what I smelled!" Jennifer walked over to the cage to see what was inside. She saw 5 rats running around and there was a single crow left.

It was flying around just dying to get out.

"I wonder if I can let it out." she said.

She turned from the cage and looked at the table. Jennifer witnessed a decapitated crow and found a bloody key right beside it. What was Jennifer to do? Was she going to grab a key with the blood of a crow on it in order to save a single crow?

Nonsense! That crow is just an animal. It wasn't like it was one of her friends.

Why would Jennifer wanna save a crow anyway?

Besides, crows aren't even considered beautiful like doves, blue jays, macaws, or toucans. Crows are considered bad luck.

Jennifer had to really think. Was this crow worth going through all this trouble? She looked at the key and then back at the poor crow. She tried to imagine if she was the crow.

Even as an animal, animals don't deserve to be caged up.

So finally she sighed and took her chances. "Well…here it goes." Jennifer inserted the key and slowly turned it to open the cage.

The crow came rushing out. The crow flew around the room before finding its way out.

"I hope I find a way out of here too." When she realized there was nothing else to investigate, Jennifer turned around and left the room.


	21. Musical Chairs

**Ch. 21 Musical Chairs**

The next room Jennifer came across was a musical room.

There was a piano, a music box, a closet and a curtain.

"Nice piano." But before Jennifer checked it out, she had to investigate as usual. And as usual, she tried the light switch but this time it didn't work.

Of course it didn't work!

Jennifer examined the music box and its nightstand.

The nightstand was full of all kinds of music but it seemed outdated.

Jennifer walked over to the cabinet to look inside and found only junk…or basically nothing.

What really mystified Jennifer was whatever was behind the curtain. "I wonder what's behind that curtain." She slowly walked over there to it, dreading scissorman's presence. Every little step she took brought her closer and closer to the mysterious curtain.

What could be lurking behind there?

It seemed so far away by the pace of her steps. Jennifer could hear herself breathing heavily. Just a few more steps and she would make it.

But a few more steps seemed like 100.

Her imagination began to run wild and she could almost hear things and possibly even see things. Jennifer was so freaked out, she wondered if she should turn around and go back. But if she's made it this far, why would she turn back? Was there even anything in there that Jennifer really needed?

It was just a curtain!

But it was so intriguing that she had to know what was behind that curtain! Then Jennifer finally reached it!

This was it!...This was it! This was going to be an epic moment! What was behind the big, purple curtain? It was…..It was….

Jennifer's hand touched the curtain and pulled it back to reveal….a vase with a staff. "Oh! All that for nothing?" Jennifer felt like an idiot after that. "Hmm….now I feel like an idiot." She immediately closed the curtain and looked at the piano. For some reason, something told Jennifer to examine that staff. "Maybe I can use that staff." She turned back around and got a good look at that staff. "I don't know why but I feel like this would be useful at some point." So Jennifer picked up and pocketed the staff.

Now it was time to play the piano!

She ran over to the piano and had a seat. Jennifer didn't know how to play the piano so she just started hitting random keys.

It was fun, just like being a kid.

Jennifer played with the keys and even tried playing simple songs such as the ABC's.

It was so adorable.

Jennifer had fun playing on the piano for a good while until a ceiling tile fell down and broke. It scared the mess out of her. She quickly looked at the broken tile and then at the ceiling from where it came. But then she thought, 'maybe it's just the mansion falling apart because it's getting old.' Jennifer sat down again and placed her hands on the piano keys once again. She played for about another minute and then the unthinkable happened.

Scissorman dropped from the ceiling and walked on the piano keys.

It was the most unexpected thing to happen to Jennifer. She instantly leaped from her seat and ran away screaming. This time, Jennifer ran back upstairs.


	22. Falling Apart

**Ch. 22 Falling Apart**

Back upstairs, Jennifer found the nearest door and went inside.

The room looked like a storage room.

There was a big box just waiting for Jennifer to hop in. She was so happy to have something to hide in. She ran to the box, opened it and leaped inside.

Unfortunately Scissorman couldn't find Jennifer so he gave up as usual.

When Jennifer suspected that he was gone, she opened the top, crawled out and closed it shut. She had a quick look around the room and witnessed two boxes on a flatbed. Jennifer used the flat bed to move the boxes and saw that the wall was cracked as if it was falling apart. "I wonder if there's something behind here." Jennifer looked around for something to hit the wall with and found a plank. She took the plank, hit the wall a few times and the wall actually fell apart. "I knew it!" She dropped the plank and walked the wall.


	23. Walking on Thin Air

**Ch. 23 Walking on Thin Air**

As soon as Jennifer walked across the wall, she instantly realized that the air was very thin. However, with the wall cracked, that provided extra air for her to breathe. But even worse, she saw a skeleton….A REAL DEAD PERSON! She gasped with shock as her hands cupped her mouth. That was probably the worst she's seen yet in this mansion aside from Mr. Barrows.

There was a black, medical bag and note beside the skeleton. There were also a bunch of tally marks on the wall like someone was counting days…counting days until their death!

Jennifer glanced at the medical bag and it said, "Walter Simpson". "Walter Simpson?" Jennifer stared at the corpse and then realized who it was. "Dad?….daddy?...she killed my daddy?" That did it for Jennifer. She could deal with the crazed mansion but finding out that her family was involved was despicable!

How dare Mrs. Mary kill her family! She was definitely going to pay for that!

After looking at that medical bag, she didn't wanna read the note. Jennifer couldn't help but start crying. "Daddy!...why?"

What was the note going to say? Could it have been a suicide note?

'Oh no I hope not!' she thought to herself. "Well….there's only one way to find out." Jennifer picked up and read the note. What she read was shocking.

It basically revealed what happened with Mrs. Mary in the mansion.

She learned so much from the note. It told her everything she needed to know about Mrs. Mary.

It turns out that Mrs. Mary had two, demon children that harmed her father. Apparently, her father was some sort of doctor. So with those demon children…was one of them….Scissorman because he sure looked deformed. That would mean that Scissorman is actually Mrs. Mary's son. That's why they work together as a team. But who was the other child? Also in the note there was a very, familiar quote. It mentioned about "a cradle under the star". Wasn't that what Mr. Barrows mentioned about earlier?

"So he wasn't crazy after all." Jennifer said to herself. "But I wonder what that means." Even though the note was disturbing, she wanted to keep the note. So Jennifer pocketed the note from her father. She got one last look at the room and her father before leaving him for good. Jennifer looked at the skeleton and said, "Goodbye daddy."


	24. High School Reunion

**Ch. 24 High School Reunion**

Jennifer walked back through the wall and exited the storage room. But as soon as she was back in the hallway, that's when devastation actually hit her. Jennifer fell to the ground sobbing. It was as if she couldn't move on with her life. All her life Jennifer was an orphan but she never knew what happened to her parents. And now that she's found out what happened to her father, all Jennifer could feel was grief and devastation. "I can't do it! I can't take anymore! I can't believe Mrs. Mary killed my father!" It was one thing for Jennifer to see Mr. Barrows dying from starvation. But witnessing the death of her family was overwhelming. Jennifer never knew what happened to her mother. And maybe that was for the best. Maybe that would make her a stronger woman one day. Maybe that would inspire her to be a good mother if she ever has children one day. Jennifer sat there and cried and cried and cried her eyes out. It hurt so much. She had to carry the burden of being an orphan, being in danger of scissorman and Mrs. Mary and also the burden of her friends being in danger as well. Now that Jennifer thought about it, she realized that she really was a strong person. After all she's been through, Jennifer has really toughened up. She paused to think, took a deep breath and came back to reality. There were people she needed to save…her friends. She had to be strong for her friends. Jennifer shed a few more tears then finally said, "I gotta stay strong! I gotta keep going! I gotta be there for my friends!" Jennifer struggled to get up but she made it. She took another deep breath and gave herself some pep talk. "I can do this!...I can do this!...I gotta stay strong….be strong!" Jennifer found the stairs and walked downstairs. As soon as she got downstairs, she saw her friends. She gasped with excitement. "Guys!"

"Jennifer!" they all said in unison.

Jennifer immediately ran to them and gave them a group hug. "I'm so happy to see you guys!" She felt like shedding some more tears.

"We're happy to see you too Jennifer!" said Laura with a smile.

"Yeah where have you been?" asked Joshua with a worried look.

"I could ask you guys the same thing." said Jennifer looking at all of them.

"Yeah…..I was starting to get worried myself." said Anne being a little distant with a poker face. Anne wasn't Jennifer's best friend nor was she her worst enemy. They've had their ups and downs in their friendship. They were more like frenemies, especially after that incident about Joshua.

"Guys! I found out a lot about this mansion, scissorman and Mrs. Mary!" Jennifer announced looking at everybody with a serious look.

Laura gasped with excitement. "Really?"

"Do tell Jenny! Do tell!" Joshua couldn't wait to hear the news.

"Ok! Ok! It goes like this!" Jennifer filled them in on the story.


	25. Lucifer?

**Ch. 25 Lucifer?**

Jennifer and the gang traveled together through the hallway and Jennifer had the lead. They stayed downstairs because there was a certain room they needed to enter in order to complete their mission. What could the gang expect to see? Demonic material that's for sure. They all gathered together in front of the room with such suspense. Who knew what was behind the door!

Before going in, Jennifer wanted to make sure everyone was ready. She turned towards them and said, "Ok guys, let's take a deep breath before going in here."

The gang took a deep breath and hoped for the best.

"Oh no I'm so nervous!" cried Laura looking afraid.

"It's going to be alright Laura. Jenny's got our backs." comforted Joshua patting her on the back. He then looked at Jennifer as to say, 'right?'

Jennifer smiled at him to mean 'yes'.

"I wonder if there's going to be some creepy, satanic pictures all over the place!" said Anne sounding like a daredevil.

"Anne!" whined Laura giving her a worried look.

"Yeah cut it out, will you?" scolded Joshua giving her a mean look.

"Anne!" Jennifer also shot Anne an assertive look.

When Anne realized everyone was looking at her, she felt bad and apologized. "Ok sorry!" She raised both hands in the air as to surrender.

Jennifer sighed. "Alright let's try again!"

Everyone breathed in and exhaled.

"Wait!" said Laura and took her last, long breath before she was certain she was ready. "Ok I'm ready!"

"Ok gang, here we go!" This was it! Jennifer was about to open the door to the dark world.

What was Mrs. Mary's biggest secret?

The more Jennifer thought about it, the slower she seemed to work. She hesitated as she was about to insert the key into the lock. Jennifer even thought about what Anne said.

Maybe she was right. Maybe there were a bunch of pictures on the wall.

But now Jennifer was just being ridiculous.

Anne didn't know what was behind there. She was only guessing or maybe just trying to scare everybody as if she wasn't scared herself.

Using the ceremony key that she found in the doll room, Jennifer finally opened the door to the ceremony room.

When the door opened, one image caught everybody's attention immediately. It was a dark, red pentagram on the floor that was almost as big as the floor.

Everyone walked in.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Joshua eyeballing it with such amazement.

"What…..is it?" asked Laura looking at Jennifer.

"It's…it's a…" Jennifer couldn't even think of the proper name she was so stunned.

"It's a pentagram!" answered Anne folding her arms as if it was common sense.

Nobody looked at Anne this time. They continued looking around the room.

Aside from the pentagram, there was an entire row of lit candles on a top shelf, a metal disk and a severed crow on the bottom shelf.

Laura saw a picture and pointed it out. "Hey look, there's a picture!"

Everyone looked where she pointed and saw it.

But when Jennifer looked at the picture, she was intrigued by it. "Hmm?"

"Whatcha thinking Jenny?" he asked studying her.

Jennifer squinted at it. "I'm trying to figure out what it is!"

"Looks like a skeleton." said Anne casually.

"I think it's more than a skeleton." replied Jennifer still analyzing it.

Meanwhile, everybody went their separate ways in the room.

Anne decided to study the pentagram. She even had the nerve to walk on it like nothing would happen.

Joshua stayed with Jennifer but looked around where the severed crow was.

Laura saw a vase and went for the vase.

As Anne looked at the pentagram, she noticed something revealing. It looked like a loose floorboard. 'Is that a trap door? Wicked cool! I wonder what's under here!' she said in her head. Anne stepped on it and felt that it in fact was loose. Yep something was definitely under there!

Laura stared at the stunning vase. It was beautiful and so were the flowers! 'I've never seen anything this beautiful!' she thought to herself.

Jennifer and Joshua seemed to work as a team.

Joshua found clues by scoping out the bottom row and showed it to Jennifer. "Look Jenny!" he said pointing at it.

Jennifer saw what he investigated.

Laura turned around and looked at Jennifer and called her over to the vase. "Jennifer!"

Everyone looked at Laura.

Jennifer stopped what she was doing and came to her rescue. "What's wrong?"

"Jennifer! Look! This vase is amazing!" she exclaimed with a big smile.

Jennifer had a good look at it and said, "Hmm? It sure is!" But for some reason, something told her to put that staff in the vase. "I don't know why but something's telling me to do something kind of weird."

"Like what?" asked Laura looking confused.

Jennifer pulled out the flowers and tossed them on the ground.

'Why did she do that? Those flowers are so beautiful!' Laura thought to herself.

"Jenny what are you doing?" yelled Joshua.

"I don't know, but I hope it works." Jennifer replied.

Even Anne had to see what Jennifer was about to do.

Jennifer pulled out her staff and placed it in the celadon vase.

All of a sudden, there was a noise that sounded like a trap door opening and a scream.

Everyone looked where the noise came from and that's exactly what happened.

Unfortunately, Anne was standing on the trap door and fell through. Luckily, she was able to catch herself in time.

"Anne!" everyone yelled and immediately ran to her assistance.

"Heeeeelp!" she yelled in terror.

"Here give me your hand!" Joshua squat down and offered both hands.

"I've got the other!" said Jennifer willing to work with Joshua anyway she could.

Laura stood back and watched.

Anne grabbed both friends with each hand and they were able to pull her up quickly. As soon as she was back up, Anne was sitting on the floor hyperventilating.

"Are you ok Anne?" asked Jennifer genuinely worried about the girl.

Anne couldn't say anything at first but after she caught her breath, she finally responded with, "Yeah…I'm alright…..but I'm really scared now!"

"You're not the only one." said Laura.

'Yeah now you're scared since you wanted to tease everybody earlier.' Jennifer thought to herself.

"We're all scared Anne. But we've got to get to the bottom of this mansion and eventually get out of here!" said Joshua looking her straight in the eye.

Anne turned to Jennifer and tears began to run down her cheeks. "Jennifer I'm…..I'm sorry." She looked at everyone else and apologized as well.

Jennifer sighed, "It's ok. We're going to be alright."

Laura looked at Anne with shock. She couldn't believe that Anne actually broke down as much as a jerk as she can be. But in reality, anyone can break down if under enough pressure.


	26. What Lies Beneath

**Ch. 26 What Lies Beneath**

Once Anne calmed down and everybody else settled down, it was time to move on. They all looked down the hole from the trap door.

It seemed to go on forever.

"It's so dark and scary!" cried Laura. She then looked at Jennifer and asked, "Do we have to go down there?"

"I guess we don't have a choice." said Jennifer with a straight face still looking down the hole.

Anne stared at the hole and it made her heart rate excel. "Oh God I'm getting dizzy by just looking at it!"

Joshua looked at it and saw a ladder. "Hey look! There's a ladder!"

The girls didn't realize it until he said something.

Jennifer gasped. "You're right! It is!"

Joshua walked closer to the hole, bent down and grabbed the ladder.

"Careful Joshua!" cried Laura with her right hand over her heart.

"I got it Laura!" he replied giving her hope.

The girls watched Joshua climb unto the ladder.

"Do you have any idea how far down it goes?" said Jennifer in her worried tone.

"I'm not sure but I know it can't be that far down." Joshua began descending down the ladder.

The girls looked at each other and then followed suit. As everyone climbed down the ladder, there was a little light for them to see. It was also windy down there. When they reached the bottom, they realized where they were. It seemed to be a giant cave.

"There's a cave in this mansion?" asked Laura looking around in total shock.

"That's so odd! What could possibly be down here?" said Anne frowning.

"It could be Mrs. Mary 'biggest' secret!" said Jennifer with a little sarcasm.

"Yeah! 'Big' is right!" said Joshua being sarcastic as well.

There was only one path and they followed it. The gang walked along the dark and windy path into the unknown.

What could be lurking around in such a huge cave? And why would there be a cave under a mansion?

Mrs. Mary was one, psychotic woman.

The gang walked for about a quarter mile and then saw a corridor. That was the only one and of course they went through it. From there, there were two routes. What should they do?

"Uh, which way should we go?" asked Laura looking at everyone.

"I think we should keep straight." stated Joshua looking forward.

"We might need to split up." said Jennifer looking at the gang.

"Split up? Are you crazy?" scolded Anne giving Jennifer her mean look.

"Jennifer!" whined Laura.

"Guys listen! There's four of us and two routes! Two of us can keep straight while the others go the other way! I'm pretty sure both routes lead the same way!" Jennifer explained.

Joshua sighed with frustration. "Jenny you're making this complicated! We need to just stick together. Don't we have a better chance of surviving if we stay together?"

"Come on Jennifer! You're not like this!" said Laura with a sad look.

Anne folded her arms and gave Jennifer a hard look.

Anne and Jennifer made eye contact.

It was awkward for Jennifer because now she felt like the enemy.

Now everyone was staring at her.

Was she going crazy? Was she becoming like Anne? What was Jennifer thinking, "splitting up"? When Jennifer realized she was outnumbered, she apologized and agreed with the gang. She felt like an idiot for having to do so as well, especially in front of Joshua . "Alright guys…..let's stay together." Jennifer had the gang stick together and continued straight.

Jennifer and the gang followed the rocky path. They climbed onto a plateau, walked across and then climbed back down.

Laura was getting nervous. She had a feeling something had to be down there besides the cave.

Mrs. Mary had to be keeping something in the cave, otherwise why else would the cave even exist?

As the group walked together, the wind blew harder more often.

It was as if the cave was warning them of something. Something big! Something near! Something they won't expect!

Finally they reached the end and saw what looked like an enormous stage. Everyone was stunned to see it. They witnessed a big, red curtain. It made everybody wonder and use their imagination to the max. 'What's behind the curtain?' That thought played into each of their minds.

'I wonder what's behind there.' Jennifer thought to herself. But then she suddenly remembered. 'The cradle under the star' Mr. Barrows told her. "So this is it."

"What! What is it Jenny?" asked Joshua looking at her.

"It's the cradle under the star." She replied without looking at him but at the curtain.

"The cradle under the star?" asked Laura looking confused.

"You mean the pentagram?" chimed in Anne.

"Yeah…I remember Mr. Barrows told me that." said Jennifer still amazed at the stage.

"So…..do we wanna know what's behind the curtain?" asked Joshua looking at her.

That question irritated Jennifer but she didn't wanna hurt his feelings. So kindly Jennifer looked at him with a smile and said, "Yes Josh we wanna know what's behind the curtain."

"Um, I don't think so Jennifer!" cried Laura with her worried look.

"Yeah me too!" agreed Anne cringing.

Jennifer and Joshua looked at the two and then at each other.

"Well Jenny?" said Joshua looking her in the eye.

Jennifer looked at the girls. "Ok girls, you stay here. Josh and I will check it out."

With a sad look on her face, Laura nodded and replied, "Ok."

"Be careful." said Anne feeling a little indifferent since Jennifer and Joshua were about to walk off together.

Jennifer looked at Joshua and said, "Well Josh! Let's do this!"

"Roger!" he agreed.


	27. The Thing

**Ch. 27 The Thing**

They slowly walked together getting closer and closer towards the enormous curtain. The closer they got, the more intimidating it became.

"I can't look!" Laura hugged Anne and hid her face in Anne's chest.

Naturally Anne hugged her back even if she didn't want to. "It's going to be ok Laura." She watched as they walked together.

Jennifer was beginning to sweat she was so nervous. Her hands shook, her heart raced but she felt a sense of security since Joshua was beside her. And since he was beside her, Jennifer had the nerve to reach for and hold his hand. She was so happy to do that. 'I'm holding his hand! I'm holding his hand! I can definitely do this!' she said in her head. She even felt like she was walking down the aisle with him.

Joshua could feel Jennifer shaking. He used his thumb to massage her hand as to say, 'it's going to be ok Jenny!'

Watching Jennifer and Joshua hold hands sparked a flame a jealousy for Anne. 'Was she doing this to get back at me?' she thought to herself. But she couldn't say anything because they were in a scary situation. Anne would love to hold Joshua's hand any day. Besides, Anne and Jennifer will always sort of have a _love/hate_ relationship with each other.

They finally made it to the red curtain and let go of each other's hands. "Do you wanna look or do you want me to look?" said Joshua.

"No…I got it!" she said with a smile. Jennifer took baby steps towards the red curtain. It shouldn't be that bad since Joshua was with her. Jennifer took a deep breath. She then slowly reached for the red curtain while her hands were still shaking. "It's going to be ok just breathe." she encouraged herself.

Everyone else stood back and watched with just as much anxiety as she did. They all wondered what was behind there.

Suddenly Jennifer touched the curtain and this was where the real anxiety settled in. 'Ok I can do this! Just take a tiny peak.' she said to herself. Jennifer closed her eyes, moved some curtain and then opened her eyes to take a peak. Immediately her facial expression changed.

"What is it? What do you see?" said Joshua looking worried.

Jennifer let go of the curtain and slowly walked backward.

"What's wrong Jenny?" he asked.

Even Anne was a little worried.

Joshua walked toward her and hugged her. "What's wrong Jenny?"

"Run." she replied softly.

"What!" he said.

Jennifer quickly looked at Joshua and yelled, "Run!"

Her scream made Laura look to see what was going on.

Jennifer pulled away from Joshua, turned towards the girls and came running towards them. "Come on you guys!"

Anne and Joshua came running after Jennifer but Laura wanted to see what Jennifer was afraid of.

About 10 seconds later, Laura saw what was behind the curtain aside from Jennifer. It was the scariest thing she had ever seen in her life.

It was a giant, deformed, sort of purplish baby crawling towards them. It even laughed like a normal baby.

The thing scared Laura so much that she let out a huge scream and then fainted.

Everyone heard Laura collapse, stopped and turned around. "Laura!" they yelled in unison.

Joshua was closest to her. "You guys keep going, we'll catch up!"

The girls wasted no time getting away. As the girls ran together, they fell into a lake that was freezing.

The lake was about 40° at waist-deep.

As soon as they came in contact with the water, both girls slowed down and hyperventilated.

"This wwwater is ffffreezzing!" cried out Anne grabbing her arms shaking.

Jennifer did the same. "Tttell me abbbout it Anne!"

The girls stood there for a moment to briefly catch their breathes and then kept moving. They pressed against the water trying to get back to the other side but then they ran into a hill. Who was going to climb the hill first? The girls looked at each other with such awkwardness and then back at Joshua and Laura.


End file.
